Back in 2004 when the prince of Denmark were about to marry the Australian born Mary Elizabeth Donaldson a white masterpiece was created to the future Queen; the ivory duchess silk wedding gown! Two of the greatest Danish designer were given the job to create the most wonderful dress, it was designer Uffe Frank and tailor Birgit Hallstein in close collaboration with Mary herself who made her wedding-dress dreams come true and we have to admit they all three did a pretty good job. The gown has so many elements, details and stunning things to look at with the old lace and layers of silk duchess. Lets go back down memory lane and dive into the ultimate outfits of them all: the wedding outfit!

The magnificent wedding gown of Mary's is made of 24 meters of ivory silk duchess with a shiny effect because of the silk. It is made of long panels which opens out about 25 cm under her waist and under these panels, over 100 years old lace comes visible. These lace are almost historical and have a great story you need to know. Read about them further below. Another thing to take notice of is the very special designed sleeves, Uffe Frank gave them the name kalla-sleeves after the Kalla flower, this have a specific shape just like the 3 quarter sleeves on Mary's wedding gown. It also features a width neckline. A significant thing about her gown is the extremely long train, it measures 6 meters and is one of the longest train of years of royal wedding dresses. Imagine to walk with all that behind? Underneath the gown is over 31 meters of tulle. This is really a gown to remember. Uffe Frank did also design the tow red and one pink bridesmaid dresses.

Mary and Silkehuset
In September 2003 Mary visited the Silk House (Silkehuset) in Bjæverskov to see all the different silk materials that might be used to her dazzling wedding gown. She decided that the Silk House was the one to deliver the silk to her dress. The Silk House describes it as a exciting work between to bride, designer Uffe Frank and tailor Birgitte Hallstein. The silk came from over 200,000 cocoons from the province of Zhejing in China. A thin thread was made in the length of reaching five times around the earth. It was them sent to Bangalore in India to be dyed in a special ivory colour to match the hair and eyes of Mary such as the old Connaugh lace. Afterwards is was sent to the workroom on Amalienborg in Copenhagen. The underlining and train are made of a silk organza from the North of Italy who has specialized for centuries working with fabrics also for royals all over Europe.

Henrietta Clark Donaldon, Mary's mother, died in 1997 in the age of 55 during a heart surgery leaving Mary with no mother in a age of 25 years old. Even though her mother died several years ago she took part in the wedding ceremony. As any other girl I think Mary would have loved to see her mother next to her on her big day. In the memory and to be close to her mother she had her wedding ring stitched into the upper body of her wedding gown. Afterwards Mary's lovely bouquet was send with an aunt to her mother grave. What a thoughtful gesture.

The Connaught lace

Another beautiful detail with Mary's wedding outfit is the old Connaugh lace, 8 meters of lace. They have its history back to the time of Princess Margereta of Sweden. She was the Princess of Connaught and when she married Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden she brought with her the wonderful lace and the veil. Princess Ingrid of Sweden (later Queen of Denmark) inherited it after her mother as the only daughter. The lace was worn by Queen Ingrid's first daughter Queen Margrethe on her wedding dress and after the wedding they were taken off and then used on Mary's wedding gown. Today Mary's dress is, like her mother-in-laws, without the lace work.

Tiara and earrings worn on the wedding day
As any other wedding one of the things to guess about is which tiara are the bride going to wear? A new one or one she had inherited. In this case Mary wore a new diamond tiara given to her by her mother-in-law and father-in-law as their wedding gift to the bride which is not a usual tradition. Despite the fact that she wore a 'new' tiara nobody know where it comes from nor the history of it. It has been told that they bought it on an auction. The tiara is estimated to be a 1900-hundreds piece of jewellery. The tiara features five spikes and six lesser spikes between adored with diamonds. The beautiful South-Sea pearl earrings are made by jewellery designer Marianne Dulong ordered by Mary to her wedding day. She were shown several designs and chose those the one with the snowdrop-design. She wished to get a pair of earrings that would be used on the wedding day and at other events after her big day. Both tiara and earrings are worn during state visits and gala dinners since.

The eternity wedding band is made of 18-carat white gold and features 24 square diamonds int the classic princess cut, a way to grind diamonds. The gold to make the wedding band is the first ever found on Greenland in the goldmine Nalunaq (which means: "the place that's hard to find"). The gold was a wedding gift from the Greenland Home (Det Grøndlanske Hjemmestyre). Royal jeweler Flemming Hertz is the creator of both Mary and Frederik's wedding and engagement rings. He has told that they were in the process to design the bands and Frederik ordered them in January when the wedding was in May. Today it's worn with her stunning engagement band which features there baguette stones; two red ruby from Brazil and a diamond. The colours symbolize the colours in the Danish flag, Dannebrog. In early 2012 two diamonds were added to the engagement band.

Floral designer Erik Buch is the one who created Mary's stunning white and green bouquet on the wedding day. Many certainly forget her bouquet when they talk about the royal wedding in 2004, but when you know about the different flowers and the stories about them will love you read this section. White roses was surrounded by several historical flowers. Rhododendrons, azaleas and orange flowers were all from the garden of Fredensborg Castle and Meadowsweet from Gråsten Palace. The bouquet did also contained myrtle derived from a plant Queen Ingrid had with her from Sweden, Stockholm, when she married Crown Prince Frederik IX of Denmark where she wore a wreath of the same plant on her head. To emphasize the bride's homeland, the Australian eucalyptus with berries and the Australian eucalyptus 'Snow Gum' were added to the bouquet. The shaft of the bridal bouquet consisted of a braided silk with a silver ring, where the royal couple's monogram and wedding date was engraved.

When Frederik held his wedding speech to Mary after the wedding, a little lace handkerchief was used to take her tears away from her eyes because of the wonderful speech. The beautiful lace worked handkerchief is handmade by the woman Astrid Hansen. The pattern is called the ‘Tønder pattern’ which is a famous crochet pattern in the Southen part of Denmark and it’s one of the oldest we have. She worked 6 hours (!) every day since the engagement was announced in 2003.

Right now Kofi Annan is in Denmark to present his new book A Life in War and Peace. He's a former secretary general of the UN. Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary attended the presentation of the new book, they'll also attend the evening dinner at restaurant Lumskebugten in Copenhagen.

Short review of A Life in War and Peace, by Kofi Annan

"Written with eloquence and unprecedented candor, Interventions is the story of Kofi Annan’s remarkable time at the center of the world stage. After forty years of service at the United Nations, Annan—who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2001—shares his unique experiences during the terrorist attacks of September 11; the American invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan; the war between Israel, Hizbollah, and Lebanon; the brutal conflicts of Somalia, Rwanda, and Bosnia; and the geopolitical transformations following the end of the Cold War. A personal biography of global statecraft, Interventions is as much a memoir as a guide to world order—past, present, and future."

Wearing a long cozy grey wool coat Mary arrived with Frederik to meet Kofi Annan and attend the presentation of his new book on a cold any windy March day. Her outfit was all in different shades of grey and black. Without it being boring Mary stole the picture, for me, with her grey dress trousers and black blouse! When she took of the wonderful new coat a Celine belt was visible and a black blouse which might be a BOSS model. Not to forget, the stunning cap-toe Prada pumps, which she also have in beige. The pumps has the classic Mary-shoe-style with the pointed toe and super high heel. I adore high heels and love to wear them as often it's possible but to wear them as much as she do, is hard to believe. I know that your feet get used to, still I admire her. Who do you feel about wearing high heels that often? For sure, they give everything good to your outfit. She also wore a huge printed grey scarf at the arrival, a Naledi Copenhagen silk scarf.

I think I would be a bit afraid to met at person like Kofi Annan, he's a great figure but Mary was smily and clam as usual. My thanks this time goes to Agnes for supplying me with the great picture!

The last day of their visit to Chile was a bit more unofficial and you had to wait so long to see the last day because no pictures have been published. Luckily Billed Bladet took some! She was dressed in a pink printed shirt from Heartmade by Julie Fagerholt (Spring/Summer 2013) wearing a pair of dusty blue long trouser and ballet flats at the opening of the new solar heating area next to Gaby mine made by the Danish company Sunmark. A funny thing is that Mary's blouse matched Frederik's trousers and the other way around. So it is possible for a couple to dress alike without wearing the exact same colour. As on the 5th day she carried a bright blue Prada handbag. The three-chain necklace is from Jane Kønig.

Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary at the inauguration in Atacama Desert

Nothing's better then get the chance to see the woman called Crown Princess Mary dressed in pastel colours on a trip to Chile! They were attending several different event yesterday which means different outfits every time they changed location. Yeah. The first one is differently my favourite; a silky creamy white blouse and a pair of pink/white printed capri trousers with a pattern I would call -cute. With the beige L.K. Bennett wedges her look is so feminine with a classic touch of the black pearl Marianne Dulong earrings and bracelet. They are usable for both everyday and evening because of the timeless design and materials, 18-carat gold and Tahitian pearl. Se added a little more bling with a three-chain necklace with round pendants. They are pretty popular as 'friend tags' you can write your own, a friends, child's etc. initial on the small pendant. Because of the popularity of these necklaces is available at almost every jewellery brand, Mary chose hers from the Danish designer Jane Kønig. Do you just need one of these as much as I do?

At the European Southern Observatory
After having seen all the sweet pictures and the interview with the couple from the observatory I think it was a very special experience for both of them. They were literally acting like they were no one else around them. Mary brought her camera and took lots of pictures of the overwhelming view and photos to remember good memories with her husband from a official visit wasn't planned. Just like Mary took pictures of Frederik, he took some great one of her. If they were as great as the one the press published they are perfect for a scrapbook. Now you might think; haven't we seen that colourful blouse before. Well almost, because she have a jumpsuit with the exact same print. From the start I was a fan of the jumpsuit, I have a thing with jumpsuit even though I can't wear them because of my hight, but as a blouse the print also works very good. Differently a blouse I think we'll see it again. You might remember the designer, Style Butler. She added a brown belt to mark her waist and wore white trousers.

The more I look at the pictures from yesterday the more I like it! As any other woman with just a tiny interest in fashion have a things about shoes and the white once Mary was wearing I simply gorgeous - the shape is great. Yet, I haven't been able to find the right model but my guess is that they are from Prada, Manolo Blahnik, Gianvito Rossi or maybe Rupert Sanderson. Maybe you're able to help my in the search of the right once?

Whatevey she puts on Mary suit into every single piece of clothes just like the new white dress from Elise Gug(Spring/Summer 2013). Notice the sheer long sleeves, it's a great detail and even though the dress has long sleeves you barely notice it because of the sheer-effect. In a way it makes the dress more 'light'. A dress that not to laud. A piece of colour would I have appreciated instead she chose gold earrings features white pearl pendant, Marianne Dulong.

With the most smily and happy face Mary arrived by the side of Frederik holding his hand.

As I said yesterday, Mary is a pro when it comes to dressing up for a dinner! I would love to have the skills as she has. She chose a dress that draw everyones eye to her without actually 'screaming' for the attention you naturally give her and even when it is the second time she's wearing the blue and white one-shoulder dress created by Danish designer Jesper Høvring (Spring/Summer 2013). The pattern is available in not just this one model but I would with no doubt choose the same as Mary, and not just because she already have it!

She accessorized the dazzling evening outfit with silver Ralph Lauren Collection(Purple Label) heeled sandals, a pair I would die to wear with any piece of clothes, dresses and jeans. She carried a metallic silver box clutch which could be from either Anya Hindmarch or Judith Leiber. Lotus (custom-made) earrings and Catena bracelet from Marianne Dulong finished the look and made her even more marvelous! But she wound't shin so much without her amazing personality.

Colours and print on the same dress is great because Mary is one of those people who really wear both so beautifully. On the third day is was the printed Pilosophy di Alberta Ferretti that caught my attention, it's not possible to miss that with the significant print. Even though it's not a new dress I glad to see her wearing the dress again in a match with the beige Christian Louboutin pumps feature ring the characteristic bright red sole, which absolutely did not take any unnecessary attention from the dress. When visiting the home of Pablo Neruda (poet) she added a bit more colour to her look with a pair of dark red Prada (collection 2012) sunglasses. In a way I think it was a emotional moment to visit his home, maybe I'm wrong.

Lots of wonderful jewellery gave her outfit a sense of royalty and elegance in the way it's possible for an daytime event and visiting so many different places and people, both the oval shaped earrings, the rings on her finger and the golden bracelets on her wrist are all designed by the Danish jewellery designer Marianne Dulong. Last but not least she wore her crocodile Vanessa clutch from Carlend Copenhagen.

Mary have the sense of dressed perfectly for an evening event, she indeed proved at the dinner last night wearing a dusty pink dream of a dress! I'm amazed by her feminine beauty. The stunning sleeveless dress is from the Danish designer Elise Gug (Spring/Summer 2012), a designer Mary has occasionally worn before. The dress is kinda... shiny. With accessory in the same wonderful colour I was in love right away! I like that she's wearing Danish brands on a visit like this, makes be believe that she's proud of being a Dane and want so show some of the great designers we have. It's no secret that Denmark have for many many years be famous for our great and classic designers. More then once I have expressed my thought about the jewellery brand Ole Lynggaard and my love for specifically the Winter Frost and Flower collection are some of my favourite. The one she chose for this outfit was the Flower earrings in silver. She finished off the look with a satin pair of pumps from Prada. The clutch I haven't been able to identify.

I'm a bit jealous at those who get to see Mary when she's on a state visit or official visit like this one in Chile, because on such trip she's always dressed in a very unique way. All the best are packet in her suitcase, matched perfectly with hats, shoes and accessories. On their second day in Chile we saw one of these 'unique' outfits with a little extra elegance. I really love her look; the match of the white Hugo Boss peplum and the white floral Prada pleated skirt is just great. Her face and hairdo were beautifully framed by her Susanne Juul hat which also drew attention to the stunning Cenius & Bach earrings with the rose quartz pendant. She added a Prada clutch and bracelets, Marianne Dulong and Shamballa Jewels, to the more then wonderful outfit.

I have to say it was a special moment, also only for us to see pictures from when they visited the Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins. Such a overwhelming atmosphere. Just had to mention, maybe you had the same feeling.

Hope you're ready for one more day with the Crown Prince couple in Chile tomorrow.

Now the time has finally come when Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary are going to Chile on a official visit. The Crown Prince couple are doing the trip instead of Queen Margrethe and Prince Henrik because of the Queen's weakened health. Since I heard they were going, I have been so excited and now the time has come and the six-days visits are started, Crown Prince Frederik and Crown have arrived to Chile.

After the arrival, the couple started the day by a walk in the park of Quebrada de Macul and even tough she was walking around in a park she's dressed practical but with a touch of royal-elegance. For the walk she had chosen to wear a ARCTERYX cap, yes I know Mary with a cap not something we see that much. A pair of knee-length shorts and a white T-shirt with some lace work at front from Hugo Boss (Orange Summer 2013). So if you ever wondered whether or not you could use your highly expensive Hugo Boss t-shirt on a walk, then Mary just gave you the answer; yes thats possible! With a backpack on, sunglasses and a belt to keep the trousers up, which is an ollld one worn back in 2003 or 2004 on a vacation in Australia (unfortunately I do not have a picture), she and Frederik had some great hours on their own before the dinner later the same day. Wonder what she'll be wearing?

Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary attending dinner in the evening
In an old and reused Diane von Furstenberg ruffled skirt, Mary attended dinner at restaurant El Meson Nerudiano with her husband Frederik. The dress is available in two different lengths, Mary's Nandine dress is the short one. The curly hair gave her a feminine look as the new red bead earrings my guess is that they're from the Danish jewellery brand Jewlscph. Let me know what you think. When we're talking of jewellery I noticed, what I think is a new, a rather large cuff at her arm. A reader gave the suggestion that it might be from Amrita Singh, which we occasionally have seen her wear a couple of times before. Then we have her wonderful heeled sandals left, the one and only Ralph Lauren shoes.

March, 02
These days Crown Princess Mary is on a short stay in the Netherlands, visiting Crown Prince Willem-Alexander and his wife Crown Princess Máxima. A photo was take in front of the Apeldoom Palace. With a little help from RoyalOutfits Mary's new poncho has been identified as Heartmade.
She wore it with a dark pair of jeans, a black blouse and black shoes.

The year is 1750 and the creation of Frederik VIII Palace or at that time Brockdroff's Palace began. It was built for Baron Joachim Brockdroff. Ten years later in 1760 the construction of the Palace was finished. Unfortunately the Baron only had the pleasure of the Palace for three years then he died in 1763 then it was acquired by Lord Chamberlain A. G. Moltke.

In the year of 1765 King Frederik 5th bought the Palace of Lord Chamberlain Moltke. From 1767 is was used as the Army Cadet Academy. After the wishes of King Frederik's 6th. his daughter, Princess Vilhelmine, and Crown Prince Frederik 7. should live their after their wedding. Princess Vilhelmine and Crown Prince Frederik 7. were divorced in 1837 and till 1869 where King Frederik 8th. moved into the Palace different members of the royal family lived there. When Frederik 8th became King in 1906 the building was named after him - Frederik VIII.

In 1934 the palace was renovated by Crown Prince Frederik 9. and Queen Ingrid. Queen Ingrid. Queen Ingrid lived in Frederik VIII's Palace till her death in 2000. After a huge renovation, which was finished in 2009, Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary are now living with their four children in the palace from the year 2010. The renovation began in 2004. The couple decided to open the palace for the public and nearly 500,000 people visited the palace, I was one of them! An amazing experience. The entire palace were modernized. Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary was there all along in the renovation process. Here you can write more about the renovation: www.slke.dk

a b o u t

A lifelong fascination of the Crown Princess of Denmark and her style has led me to create this blog. Here I share the latest news, fashion inspiration and my passion for the Danish Crown Princess's work. So, welcome to a world of royalty, glamour and a little everyday.

Always feel free to contact me at styleofmaryblog@gmail.com

m e s s a g e s

august 3rd

* Welcome to the new 'Style of Mary'! I have been working on this new design for quite a while. Though it looks very simple and minimalistic, it has taken me weeks to develop. I hope you like what you see in front of you. During the next couple of months I will be adding more and more features, so keep your eyes open and wait for it. Happy Thursday.